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#418 Crazy adventures at Blade Show 2025
3.2k Plays15 days ago
TOPICS:
- Crazy adventures at Blade Show 2025
- Saunders crashed the Okuma
- Moduleworks visited SMW
Recommended
Transcript
Introductions and Podcast Setup
00:00:01
John Saunders
Good morning. Welcome to the business of machining episode 418. My name is John Saunders.
00:00:06
johngrimsmo
And my name is John Grimsmo.
00:00:08
John Saunders
And John and I talk each week. Uh, we usually keep a list of things of on our mind, top of mind opinions advice, but I'm going to just turn it over to you.
Travel Ordeal Begins: Customs Issues
00:00:17
johngrimsmo
Yeah, I have pretty much one thing on my list, plus some lingering previous notes. um Yeah, man, Blade Show. Blade 2025. It was quite an adventure. You and I were texting a little bit. You you texted, you're like, you make it to Atlanta, all right? And I'm like, nope, I'm still in Canada.
00:00:36
johngrimsmo
All right. I just ran through the 45-minute story time with our whole team that didn't come to the show. So I'll give you guys a short version. But basically, we had a lot of product, like 65 products in these two big Nana cases, rolling cart cases that we bought.
00:00:50
John Saunders
yep
00:00:54
johngrimsmo
And my plan, which I did a whole lot of research on, was to bring them to the airport and fly with them on on the plane like chuck ah as checked luggage. and you know do customs and everything at the airport.
00:01:07
johngrimsmo
And all my research said, this should be fine. I should be able to self-clear. I should be all this. I talked to a customs broker and they're like, you don't really need us. was like, okay. So I had all my paperwork laid out. Anyway, so I get the customs guy. He's like, do you have anything to
Crisis Management: Customs and Shipping Challenges
00:01:20
johngrimsmo
declare? And I was like, yes, I do. So I started handing over paperwork. I'm bringing commercial merchandise. I had this all rehearsed.
00:01:26
johngrimsmo
Bringing commercial merchandise. to a trade show. have all this paperwork. I think I'm like, I think I have everything I need. Tell me what you need.
00:01:33
John Saunders
yeah
00:01:34
johngrimsmo
And he looks straight at me and he goes, you can't do that here. And I was like, what do you mean? He goes, no, anything over $2,500 you can't bring through this Toronto airport port.
00:01:44
John Saunders
No.
00:01:44
johngrimsmo
You have to go somewhere else. Yeah.
00:01:47
John Saunders
What?
00:01:48
johngrimsmo
And I was like, uh,
00:01:49
John Saunders
Also, $2,500. That's like like a high-end or not even a watch. Like, what?
00:01:54
johngrimsmo
yeah, exactly.
00:01:55
John Saunders
Single...
00:01:56
johngrimsmo
And i was like, oh well, what do I do? And he goes, well, I'm going to send you inside to secondary and they're going to tell you the same thing. Okay. And then they did. And they're like, yeah, you're you're free to travel, but your goods cannot. So we're going to send you back to the beginning and you have to get your baggage and you're free to fly, but you can't bring the stuff.
00:02:14
johngrimsmo
And I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do now. Meanwhile, the three other guys that are coming with me were on their way to the airport. Dude, I was like five hours early to the airport because I'm like, I know this is going to take time.
00:02:24
John Saunders
Yeah, sure.
00:02:24
johngrimsmo
I i know, like, you know, let's let's figure this out. And.
00:02:29
John Saunders
You're also flying out of Toronto airport, right? You're not at some regional podunk, like whatever.
00:02:31
johngrimsmo
Yeah, yeah.
00:02:34
johngrimsmo
No. And it's that's one of the 13 locations where U.S. Customs has a base of operations like there are Americans at that airport.
00:02:42
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:02:42
johngrimsmo
and stationed there pretty much um to clear customs at the airport. Otherwise, other airports are like, you fly to Atlanta, you do customs there when you arrive in the country. And I think maybe it's because it's that remote location that they maybe don't allow this.
00:02:57
johngrimsmo
um Anyway, that's pretty much all he told me. And he wasn't mean, but he wasn't happy about it. And he was just very blunt, factual, like, you can't do that here. was like, well, darn it. Like, oh, no, what? That's
00:03:09
John Saunders
So the like the backstory to all this between John and I as we had this conversation last week, because I know last year there was you ship them to UPS.
00:03:13
johngrimsmo
Exactly.
00:03:17
John Saunders
That was frustrating because that can't it can be frustrating to ship things, period, with carriers, let alone internationally and customs. And then you were talking about flying with them. And it's kind of like, yeah, like that.
00:03:29
John Saunders
Like you're good. Like you're actually doing your homework. You're, you recognize you to declare it.
00:03:31
johngrimsmo
exactly
00:03:32
John Saunders
And so I'm, I'm learning this real time now with other than the quick chats we had. And I'm thinking like, okay, they would have something to do with the type of merchandise being sharp, sharp pointing things or it had to do
00:03:43
johngrimsmo
Sure. Yeah.
Travel Woes: Hotel and Border Issues
00:03:45
John Saunders
with, you know, you really screwed up the paperwork.
00:03:48
John Saunders
I mean, whatever, like not, I'm not expecting the whole, like, just, just no, which is ridiculous.
00:03:53
johngrimsmo
Right? And I didn't give you hardly any information in our texting. And I, you know, so you're you're learning a lot of this for the first time.
00:03:59
John Saunders
Yeah. Oh. yeah
00:04:01
johngrimsmo
So like, anyway, they got to show up at the airport. It's like eight o'clock in the morning now. And we all huddled in the parking lot and we're like, now what? Like we have four plane tickets leaving in three hours.
00:04:13
johngrimsmo
What are we going to do? And I was like, you guys go ahead. I'll stand behind. I'll take care of this. I'll find a different way. I'll drive all the way to Atlanta myself if I have to, like, we'll figure this out. And Angela, Angela was like, no, you're going to take somebody with you.
00:04:23
John Saunders
ah
00:04:26
johngrimsmo
So Grayson, you go with John, Stephen and I will push forward. uh, So we did. So we broke off, did kind of the, you know, everybody put your hands in go team kind of thing.
00:04:34
John Saunders
okay
00:04:37
johngrimsmo
And we're like, all right, good luck. And so Steven and Angela flew ahead. And then Grayson and I, um each of us had had ah like two hours of sleep the night before.
00:04:46
John Saunders
oh that's nice though yeah
00:04:47
johngrimsmo
and no breakfast. So we're like, let's leave the airport. Let's go get some food. Let's get some breakfast. um I bought the flight on points. I was able to get that refunded, but that took 45 minutes on the phone to get like point reimbursement.
00:04:59
johngrimsmo
It's nice.
Engaging Without Products: Customer Interaction
00:05:00
johngrimsmo
So like over breakfast, I'm just sitting on hold. So that was okay. um And then I spent the next like six hours calling around to different customs brokers. I'm like, I want to drive these products across the border. Am I going to have the same problem? Do I have all the right paperwork?
00:05:17
johngrimsmo
Um, yada, yada, yada. And i talked to our customs broker. We don't have a formal account with them yet, but I did get on the phone with somebody and he's like, yeah, I think we can help you out.
00:05:23
John Saunders
OK.
00:05:26
johngrimsmo
It'll be a two or three business days. And I'm like, bro, I have two or three hours to clear this. Like I need, I need a solution now.
00:05:31
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:05:33
johngrimsmo
And he's like okay, I'll, I'll escalate and I'll get a manager involved. We're, uh, She'll call you back. She's on it. um I called him back half an hour later. He's like, she's on it. She'll call you back in a couple of minutes. An hour goes by, no call.
00:05:45
johngrimsmo
I called him back and I was like, they didn't answer.
00:05:49
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:05:49
johngrimsmo
And then another hour goes by, they call I call them back and nobody answered. And I'm like, what the heck? I call the front desk. I'm like, I need Amanda. She's supposed to call me. I get her voicemail, like nothing, nothing. Meanwhile, it's like two o'clock in the afternoon.
00:06:01
johngrimsmo
and we're like, the show starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Like, what are we going to do? We could drive to the border and show up there, but I'm not 100% if I have all my paperwork to do that.
00:06:14
John Saunders
Is it different paperwork than flying with them?
00:06:16
johngrimsmo
No, but I think there might be one piece of paperwork that I didn't have fully finalized, like myself, because I don't know what I'm doing. um I did my research, but i there was one thing that was still kind of up in the air about that I wanted the customs broker to help me with.
00:06:23
John Saunders
OK.
00:06:30
johngrimsmo
um Anyway, so we're like, well, during this, we're just driving closer and closer to the border. Toronto's about an hour from the border. So we're like, let's just get closer and then reevaluate
Digital Impact: YouTube vs Instagram
00:06:40
johngrimsmo
from there.
00:06:42
johngrimsmo
um And then we're like, well, let's just go to a UPS store and see what's possible. Oh, I can be there by 8.30 tomorrow for $700 in shipping. I'm like, done, done, easy.
00:06:50
John Saunders
Oh, you're in Canada though.
00:06:51
johngrimsmo
Let's do it. i don't care. In Canada still. ah And they're like, we so we spent two hours in the UPS store. And they're like, ah but we don't know what's gonna happen with customs.
00:07:03
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:07:03
johngrimsmo
We UPS do not control customs. It might clear fast, it might take a while. I don't know. And it's like, well, let's just do it. And then to ensure the package was another $1,500 because super high value, super high value package.
00:07:13
John Saunders
Oh, right.
00:07:16
johngrimsmo
um So we're like, whatever, just do it. So I'm at the door for over $2,000. I'm like, okay, i don't care. Just stop the bleed, just get it moving. meanwhile so we do that and then we have three hours until the next flight i'm like all right book the tickets on my phone um fun fact expedia doesn't show like today flights but delta.com does and so i learned that um so i was able to get two flights and then we drive through the border um the guys yeah now we're going to buffalo um buffalo to atlanta
00:07:38
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:07:45
John Saunders
Wait. Oh, because you're flying through the US now. OK.
00:07:50
johngrimsmo
So we show up at the border and the border guard is is friendly but stern and he's like, written around our trunk and he's like, ah yeah, it's not uncommon that the like, look at your stuff as you're driving across the border, at least going into the States more likely but
00:07:57
John Saunders
Really?
00:08:03
John Saunders
okay
00:08:07
johngrimsmo
you know, where you going? Do you have paperwork? And yes, I have a printed off like invitation to blade show kind of thing. All good. And he's like, you're allowed to sell your goods down here. Like stop being so nervous, but you just got to do it properly. You can't like,
Recreational Break: Gun Range Visit
00:08:20
johngrimsmo
you got to import your goods properly as, as I'm having UPS do right now.
00:08:23
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:08:24
johngrimsmo
anyway so he uh he looks around our trunk he asked if we have any food we're bringing across we say no and he's like what about this bag of skittles we're like what okay we have a bag of skittles like whatever anyway so he comes back to the front for the window and then he's like all right i'm gonna send you guys in for secondary just so the guy's gonna have a proper look through the car
00:08:34
John Saunders
yeah a do Yeah, seriously. Right.
00:08:43
johngrimsmo
And, uh, and you just go ahead and turn left. So we spent the next hour in secondary at the U S border, um, cold metal chairs and cold air conditioned and like nervous and fine.
00:08:56
johngrimsmo
And then they start asking questions and the guy pulls me up to the desk and he's like, uh, he's like, so John, he you were in Toronto airport this morning. What's up with that?
00:09:07
John Saunders
who
00:09:07
johngrimsmo
Because they scanned my passport, obviously. The border
00:09:09
John Saunders
Sure.
Lessons from Shipping Challenges
00:09:10
johngrimsmo
guy there scanned it and then the border guy here scans it.
00:09:12
johngrimsmo
And he's like, what's up with that? I'm like, okay, I get Here's the deal. Merchandise, couldn't do it. UPSed it. Here I am. i don't have any merchandise. I think I'm doing this right. Not trying to like, whatever.
00:09:21
John Saunders
Sure. Yeah.
00:09:23
johngrimsmo
and And then two other guys bring this blue Nannik case, like a Pelican case. um That's like a briefcase size, maybe a fat briefcase. and they're carrying it up and i know i have my camera equipment in there but i've got tsa locks on it that are like locked because we're going to fly with it so they're walking this bag in um later we realized because we were going to go shooting in the states grayson brought his ear protection like his shooting ear protection next to this locked like gun case you know i think we're trying either merchandise or guns in there i don't know um yeah and walked it inside yeah
00:09:55
John Saunders
Sure.
00:09:59
John Saunders
they They took that out of your car, your car, like on their own. Yeah, that's creepy, man.
00:10:03
johngrimsmo
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:04
John Saunders
oh
00:10:05
johngrimsmo
And it's fine. i'm not Nothing to hide, but i would I would not want to hide anything crossing that border.
00:10:06
John Saunders
Yeah, sure.
00:10:09
johngrimsmo
Yeah,
00:10:10
John Saunders
Well, that was going to be my layman's question of like, because I've crossed the border a handful of times, including last year for a fishing trip where we had ah two trucks with trailers and hitch haulers. And like, you could have, you we had 15 Pelican cases.
00:10:23
John Saunders
They're off brand, like generic.
00:10:24
johngrimsmo
yeah.
00:10:25
John Saunders
You know, you would have really immorally or unethically easily taken whatever you wanted. Now, granted, i guess that works because clearly we have a bunch of fishing gear, which you're not going to do to guise yourself here.
00:10:34
johngrimsmo
Exactly.
00:10:36
John Saunders
Like, this seems crazy.
00:10:38
johngrimsmo
So anyway, once all that cleared up and I opened the case and, you know, there's no merchandise and everything's good. And I had some paperwork and the guys were like, well, I guess, I guess you're good then.
00:10:48
John Saunders
Oh my god.
00:10:49
johngrimsmo
And I asked them,
Mental Resilience and Moving Forward
00:10:50
johngrimsmo
I like pushed the boundary just a little bit. was like, I just have one more question. If I were to bring that merchandise here to the border, what do I need to provide you to do this properly?
00:10:57
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:10:59
johngrimsmo
Because next year driving it over is the easiest if I'm right. And he said, use a customs broker, drive through the trucking lane, not the car lane.
00:11:08
John Saunders
Oh.
00:11:08
johngrimsmo
And then if you have all your paperwork, like it's easy, you're just doing it right, but you need a customs broker to do everything properly.
00:11:12
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:11:15
johngrimsmo
um And it is possible to self clear as I was 90% finished doing but there's a lot of accounts you have to apply for and all this weird stuff and it's
00:11:25
John Saunders
Is the idea that you owe Canada or the U.S. an immediate fee for a value of the product or is it more just declaring what you have?
00:11:30
johngrimsmo
you may
00:11:34
johngrimsmo
It's both. It's the clearing what you have. And if there are, especially now with the tariffs, extra duties, like it has to be calculated.
00:11:38
John Saunders
Okay.
00:11:41
johngrimsmo
have to use your HS codes and even the steel that we use might qualify under these steel and aluminum tariffs.
00:11:41
John Saunders
Okay.
00:11:48
johngrimsmo
um
00:11:49
John Saunders
Ugh.
00:11:49
johngrimsmo
So you need a customer broker to really like wade those waters. And at the border or the port of entry is when they determine that and they bill you for whatever.
00:11:59
John Saunders
Okay.
00:11:59
johngrimsmo
um And that's that's fair.
00:12:00
John Saunders
Interesting.
00:12:01
johngrimsmo
Like, whatever. I'm not trying to do anything weird here. I just want to get to my show.
00:12:04
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:12:05
johngrimsmo
Anyway, so they let us through, get to the airport. Fine. um Meanwhile, Steven and Angela land, um rent their own car, end up driving at the hotel that I booked. And it turns out to be a literal crack house.
00:12:17
johngrimsmo
Like, like, no, like a hotel, like Comfort Inn.
00:12:19
John Saunders
Like air Airbnb.
00:12:22
johngrimsmo
But it was...
00:12:22
John Saunders
oh my God.
00:12:24
johngrimsmo
absolutely like mold dripping from the ceiling burns in the sheets stains everywhere.
Shop Updates and Podcasting Community
00:12:30
johngrimsmo
And and like people on crack everywhere.
00:12:32
John Saunders
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:12:33
johngrimsmo
And he's like, we are not staying here. And I was like, well, we're about to board a plane. So you guys figure it out. so then they pivoted and got us a nice Hyatt and it's like beautiful.
00:12:39
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:12:42
johngrimsmo
Um, so that was kind of surprising anyway. So we all get there. We all meet up. We're all exhausted. We get about four hours of sleep and then go to the show. And then, uh,
00:12:53
John Saunders
Where did you ship the knives to?
00:12:55
johngrimsmo
to another ups depot good question um really near to the place to the show and i'm watching yeah yeah and we've done it before where we sent it to like a cvs that has a ups like corner ah but this is an actual ups store which is mildly better and i have air tags in every package i put two two air tags in each package
00:12:58
John Saunders
Okay. Okay. Like UPS store? Ah. okay
00:13:15
John Saunders
ah smart
00:13:18
johngrimsmo
um which helps because now I know physically where they are. So we get there, we get to the show. It's like, wake up, have breakfast. It's eight o'clock in the morning. And we're like, well, this stuff's not here yet. It's still in Louisville, Kentucky.
00:13:30
johngrimsmo
And we're like, I don't know.
00:13:30
John Saunders
oh
00:13:32
johngrimsmo
It's clearly not going to make the eight o'clock deadline that they said it was going to be here by. And as we go to the show, people start coming to the table, asking about stuff. And we're like, it's not here yet. And we have to tell like hundreds of people, like it's stuck in customs. We don't know what's going on.
00:13:46
johngrimsmo
People want to give us money. They're like, we have the product list in front of us, all the things we're going to bring. And so people are looking through it. They're like, well, I'll take that one. I'll take, here's take my money. you know, ah call me when it comes kind of thing. Cause we're all hoping it'll come later today, maybe Saturday. of And then, uh,
00:14:03
johngrimsmo
In the end, it never came. It is still, as of this day, in Louisville, Kentucky. It's been almost a week later.
00:14:11
John Saunders
Unbelievable.
00:14:12
johngrimsmo
Yeah. So the entire weekend was, i mean, that that and initial stress of getting there and then just the kind of aggravation of being at the show, not having any product, having to disappoint customers and talking to UPS all the time, calling um every couple of hours, just looking for a sit rep.
00:14:24
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:14:28
johngrimsmo
And like, it's just really frustrating until about early Saturday when we started telling the people asking, we're like, you know what? It's probably not going to be here by you know Sunday morning.
00:14:38
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:14:39
johngrimsmo
And that actually weight lifted a weight off of me. Because then i just stopped stressing about it. And I was like, you know what? Like, I'm here to have a good time. I'm here to engage with all the customers and fans. And let's, let's just go hard on that. Like even Friday I was stressed, but I was still there. I was, you know, hanging with everybody, but the stress lifted and the rest of the show was kind of awesome.
00:14:59
johngrimsmo
It's just great.
00:14:59
John Saunders
Good. That's great.
00:15:00
johngrimsmo
And then it kind of became this legendary story around the, around the show. Like I'd be walking around the big room, walking by tables that I don't know. And people would be like, Oh, John, I heard what happened. So sorry.
00:15:11
johngrimsmo
I'm like, Oh, thanks man.
00:15:11
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:15:12
johngrimsmo
Like, So marketing wise, that was kind of okay. Like, if you came to talk of the town.
00:15:16
John Saunders
Right, right, right. Make lemonade out of lemons, but...
00:15:19
johngrimsmo
Exactly. But um a couple other cool things that happened. I mean, we'd have customers come to the table and one guy showed me his saga that he accidentally threw in a campfire and then got it out and you know picked out all the melted plastic and ink and then put it back together and cleaned it off and put it back together. It's great.
00:15:41
johngrimsmo
And his little kid was there and um all kinds of stuff. and And this one young family, he's like, I got a weird question for you. can I take a picture of you and my baby? I was like, yeah, I love babies.
00:15:53
johngrimsmo
this is this little one-year-old boy who's like i They're like, he's probably going to cry.
00:15:55
John Saunders
ah
00:15:57
johngrimsmo
I'm like, uh-uh, I got this.
00:15:58
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:15:59
johngrimsmo
Me and this kid, we got a connection here. So I get them all laughing and giggling. And then, you know, we take a picture. And he's like, the reason is have a Norseman. I've had it for a couple of years. I want to give it to him when he's old enough. And I want this picture for him.
00:16:10
John Saunders
That's cool.
00:16:10
johngrimsmo
And I was like, oh man, melt my heart. um And then walking around the big room, i was I was looking for little pieces of pearl, like Mother of Pearl, um because I've done worked with that in the past.
00:16:19
John Saunders
Okay.
00:16:22
johngrimsmo
and
00:16:23
John Saunders
What's the HS code for perhaps too soon?
00:16:24
johngrimsmo
That's a good question. I and i didn't mention it. 60 bucks worth of ah whatever.
00:16:28
John Saunders
Good for you. Screw that. Yeah.
00:16:31
johngrimsmo
Anyway, so I found this booth that has like blocks of wood and other materials and and little pearl and I'm like poking around and he's like, Oh, hey, John. Yeah, i check out this Norseman that I've had for six years.
00:16:42
John Saunders
No way.
00:16:43
johngrimsmo
I'm like, wow.
00:16:44
John Saunders
Oh, that's that's awesome.
00:16:46
johngrimsmo
Like we are kind of the maker's maker. Like a lot of people in the industry have our stuff, which is super cool. I think the YouTube super helps with that. And actually one point I wanted to make to you was um both at the Toronto show a few weeks ago and at this show, um tons of people as you get it to come up.
00:17:05
johngrimsmo
Now, I love the YouTube channel. I remember this video.
00:17:07
John Saunders
Yay.
00:17:07
johngrimsmo
I watched this video. Nobody says that about Instagram.
00:17:12
John Saunders
Yeah, that's true.
00:17:12
johngrimsmo
I, it's it's interesting, like I push Instagram, I'm way more active on Instagram than I'm on YouTube.
00:17:13
John Saunders
don't know.
00:17:17
John Saunders
Sure.
00:17:17
johngrimsmo
And I converse with people on Instagram, DMs comments, I actually, and don't read the comments on YouTube, like, it's just too much.
00:17:23
John Saunders
Yeah, sure.
00:17:25
johngrimsmo
But everybody mentioned the YouTube specifically, and I'm starting to get this feeling that YouTube generates this deep connection somehow with, you know, you get to really tell your story. You, you, you know, you do a project video and people are with you for that journey and then it sticks with them. And then six years later, they're like, I remember that carbonizing video you did.
00:17:44
johngrimsmo
And, uh,
00:17:45
John Saunders
No, that's exactly it.
00:17:47
johngrimsmo
I'm like mid conversation with this guy and he doesn't really, we don't know each other. And then halfway through, he's like, I remember that. Oh, I know you now. Like ah that video from 12 years ago. I watched it just last week.
00:17:58
johngrimsmo
Like, okay.
00:17:59
John Saunders
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:00
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:18:01
John Saunders
There is um YouTube is an asset. Like it's creating something that exists that has weight and Instagram and the other stuff is just, it's just passing of the day transactional, like stories go away.
00:18:05
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:18:14
John Saunders
You don't scroll back and people's feeds really are like their posts.
00:18:17
johngrimsmo
Yeah. And it's like, it, ah it adds up.
00:18:19
John Saunders
Yeah, that's, that's true.
00:18:21
johngrimsmo
Like, I remember things you've posted and and nuggets you've taught and things like that. I can go back and I can look at, Oh, it wasn't John, the one that did that one thing.
00:18:27
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:18:29
johngrimsmo
Let me scroll back and look at his posts.
00:18:30
John Saunders
Right.
00:18:30
johngrimsmo
and And that is super helpful and there's nothing wrong with it. But in this context, both makers and customers came up and like mentioned the YouTube very specifically in a way that I'm realizing now is like pretty important.
00:18:44
johngrimsmo
Um,
00:18:45
John Saunders
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:18:47
johngrimsmo
yeah so like going forward i'm i'm gonna lean into that
00:18:51
John Saunders
It's YouTube it's the podcast. same thing may It may have also be a cultural thing. I've never heard anybody say to anybody else, oh, I love your Insta. like It's not like a thing, i guess.
00:18:57
johngrimsmo
yeah yeah yeah right yeah because there is a barrier there is a barrier you to youtube like it's hard to make a video it's like
00:19:00
John Saunders
And there was no, I'm just talking out loud here. There was no barrier to an Instagram. like Everybody did it and got it.
00:19:10
John Saunders
It is in like for probably the bad and wrong reasons for the most part, like YouTube subscriber views and video views are more subconscious value. And like, I do this consciously. Like if somebody sends me a video or recommends it, but it has ah thousand views, eh, if it has 400,000 views, I'll watch it, which is terrible.
00:19:27
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:19:28
John Saunders
It's like a bad vote of the the of the masses.
00:19:31
johngrimsmo
Exactly.
00:19:32
John Saunders
But like instead of, I don't, I just watch if I want to watch it. I don't care. don't judge.
00:19:35
johngrimsmo
Exactly. And I'm trying to fight that with my own consumption. Like I was looking up, um, this event I want to go to and I saw a video. There's not a lot of videos in this whole event and there's a video with 300 views.
00:19:46
johngrimsmo
I'm like, this was great.
00:19:47
John Saunders
yeah
00:19:48
johngrimsmo
This is perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to see.
00:19:51
John Saunders
Right, right. But it's been shamed to not only have any...
00:19:53
johngrimsmo
Exactly. Yeah.
00:19:53
John Saunders
Yeah, right, right.
00:19:53
johngrimsmo
Yeah. Yeah.
00:19:55
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:19:56
johngrimsmo
So anyway, the show was otherwise amazing. um We got to go to an indoor gun range in Atlanta, and it was it was weird. like the The rules were posted on the wall, but they weren't super enforced.
00:20:10
John Saunders
Oh, really?
00:20:11
johngrimsmo
Yeah. Like the range...
00:20:12
John Saunders
Looks like you guys were running some ARs, some big boy stuff.
00:20:15
johngrimsmo
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:16
John Saunders
Or just pistols?
00:20:16
johngrimsmo
um And like, like the three guys I went with have their gun license in Canada, which is not easy to do.
00:20:22
John Saunders
OK.
00:20:23
johngrimsmo
And so I, I don't, although I have shot quite a few weapons. So I just like, you guys pick just, it doesn't matter what we shoot, just pick something cool and we'll go.
00:20:30
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:20:32
johngrimsmo
And, but yeah, there were, there were some people there that was clearly their first time and they did not have instruction. It was just like, here's a gun and here's ammunition.
00:20:38
John Saunders
Yeah, it's secure.
00:20:40
johngrimsmo
And like the range officer would leave and it's like, Whoa, that's Atlanta for you.
00:20:40
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:20:45
John Saunders
ah that's indoor like ah yeah i have to tread carefully here because i'm fortunate enough to have been in a situation where i grew up shooting shot competitively blah blah blah but like and not everybody has the ability to find safe private ranges etc but yeah if you walk into an urban indoor range uh i'm gonna throw on a uh gonna throw on some plates like some body armor first because that is uh that's that's right yeah huh
00:20:47
johngrimsmo
I don't know. I've never been to other indoor ranges in the States.
00:20:55
johngrimsmo
Sure.
00:21:09
johngrimsmo
Yeah. Yeah. I was kind of worried about that. yeah Yeah, the the guy specified, he's like, make sure you carry this muzzle down as you go forward.
00:21:16
John Saunders
ah
00:21:21
johngrimsmo
And he's like, because if it's going to go off, it better hit the ground than the ceiling. And just those words, like, it's important to know, but like, he said it so nonchalantly. It's like, this is not the first, like, it has gone off, hasn't it?
00:21:29
John Saunders
Right.
00:21:33
John Saunders
you Right.
00:21:34
johngrimsmo
Anyway.
00:21:35
John Saunders
but Do you remember what you shot
00:21:36
johngrimsmo
I don't. I know Angelo said it. ah The mag 23, the pistol, what's that called?
00:21:42
John Saunders
Okay.
00:21:42
johngrimsmo
um Do you know?
00:21:44
John Saunders
I don't.
00:21:44
johngrimsmo
Not Magpul, that's the brand, but it was mags.
00:21:47
John Saunders
H&K Mark III or Mark.
00:21:49
johngrimsmo
Mark 23, maybe.
00:21:51
John Saunders
Yeah, that might be. there's like That's like a huge pistol with a suppressor.
00:21:53
johngrimsmo
It was big, yeah.
00:21:54
John Saunders
Yeah, that's like a SOCOM. It's not a very common.
00:21:57
johngrimsmo
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:57
John Saunders
Yeah. Mark 23,.45 ACP, big pistol.
00:21:58
johngrimsmo
Yeah, they had the 23.
00:21:59
John Saunders
Okay.
00:21:59
johngrimsmo
I think Angelo has the 25.
00:22:00
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:22:01
johngrimsmo
um
00:22:01
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:22:02
johngrimsmo
yeah big and and i was actually kind of worried like i'm not a huge guy and i was like is this gonna you know really kick back and it was fine it's fine yeah it's been a while since i've shot a pistol and uh was like this is great so that was fun it's good to blow off some steam with the guys um and steven was just lamenting he's like clocks are so cheap down here
00:22:04
John Saunders
okay
00:22:11
John Saunders
yeah
00:22:26
John Saunders
Oh yeah, they're like three, four, 500 bucks.
00:22:27
johngrimsmo
yeah and in canada they're double that yeah anyway
00:22:28
John Saunders
but Sorry, use. Yeah. Yeah. Huh.
00:22:33
johngrimsmo
um Yeah, and the whole time, because of the flight thing, I didn't have a return flight. So i was like, I'll figure it out at the end.
00:22:39
John Saunders
ah
00:22:40
johngrimsmo
I'm i'm not worried about it. I'm not stressed, whatever. And I still don't have my stuff, and I still don't know where it is. and And I've communicated with UPS and customs a little bit, and I had to sign some documents and go back and forth, but it's the weekend.
00:22:52
johngrimsmo
And I'm like, do I just fly to Louisville, Kentucky, and like walk up to them at the airport?
00:22:56
John Saunders
Ugh.
00:22:57
johngrimsmo
Just be like, hey, do you need anything? What what do I need to do to help clear this right now? Because as of right now, it's going to end up in Atlanta and I'm not going to be in Atlanta anymore.
00:23:06
John Saunders
Well, yeah, that's one.
00:23:07
johngrimsmo
What am I going to do with this stuff? And so I spent more time on the phone with UPS and i was like, okay, how do I initiate a return to sender?
00:23:15
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:23:16
johngrimsmo
And he said, well it's stuck in customs. It has to clear customs first. And if anything has to be paid, that has to be paid first.
00:23:21
John Saunders
Ugh.
00:23:23
johngrimsmo
And then it will go through and then it can get turned around without really hitting the final destination. And then it will come back and then it has to clear Canadian customs on the way back in. but it's a return to sender. So it's probably going to fly through easy. I don't know.
00:23:36
John Saunders
But that's ridiculous. The last thing you want to do is actually bring it into the U.S. to have it travel one inch to only return.
00:23:42
johngrimsmo
you
00:23:44
John Saunders
Like you're not and conducting commerce in the U.S.
00:23:45
johngrimsmo
And pay money for it.
00:23:47
John Saunders
with this.
00:23:47
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:23:48
John Saunders
That's so stupid.
00:23:49
johngrimsmo
yeah So it's just, just trade for you. Um, So anyway, it's now Wednesday, been home for two days and my stuff's still in Louisville, Kentucky.
00:24:01
johngrimsmo
Although there was a $400 import charge that I had to pay online. So I paid that and I'm like, I just want my stuff back. I just, whatever it takes. like
00:24:11
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:24:13
johngrimsmo
so
00:24:13
John Saunders
It might be too soon, but like, what is the lesson learned for others listening for you?
00:24:19
johngrimsmo
So perfect.
00:24:20
John Saunders
Like, I don't need to be, I'm not trying to rub salt in the wound, John.
00:24:21
johngrimsmo
Total, total.
00:24:22
John Saunders
Like I'm, so I'm really sorry this happened, but like companies do this, right?
00:24:24
johngrimsmo
So I ah totally, and I thought I did quite a lot of research, like dozens of hours of research on this.
00:24:29
John Saunders
Yeah. Well, I remember you saying that you talked to a customer and they were kind of like, dude, you're fine. Do this on your which that's really frustrating.
00:24:35
johngrimsmo
Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, so I won't be using them, but. um
00:24:41
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:24:42
johngrimsmo
So lessons learned. And I talked to a guy at the show, Knife Maker, who's like, hey, mate, I'm from Australia. I love listening to the podcast. um My knives are in South Korea right now.
00:24:55
John Saunders
Oh, yeah. yeah
00:24:56
johngrimsmo
And he's like, he makes this ah beautiful art knife, like mini sword kind of thing with all decorative. He probably makes his own damage Damascus and all that. Like like he showed me picture, gorgeous stuff.
00:25:03
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:25:05
johngrimsmo
um And he's like, yeah, that that was my one knife. I spent four months to build and I don't have it here. And, you know, he was probably hoping to make good money from it and like pay for the trip and all that.
00:25:11
John Saunders
Oh.
00:25:14
John Saunders
Sure.
00:25:16
johngrimsmo
and he's like, yeah. So I said, okay, dude, we have 11 months to figure this out because one month prior to Blade Show, we will be done with whatever we're bringing. And we will have that entire month to ship and deliver and all that stuff.
00:25:27
John Saunders
Okay. Yeah, sure. Sure.
00:25:29
johngrimsmo
And he's like, yeah, but I don't know what I'm going to, going to have until like last minute. And I was like, well, 11 months is the cutoff, dude. Like we need lots of time here.
00:25:38
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:25:39
johngrimsmo
um So that's kind of my plan. And I started a Google doc that, wrote down all my thoughts and all my notes and all my feelings from our experiences and lessons learned. And one of which is like, you know, the absolute cutoff where your commercial manifest is done, packed, bringing one month ahead of time.
00:25:59
johngrimsmo
um Just to give you plenty of time, two weeks, maybe, but I don't want any surprises because next year needs to go smoothly.
00:26:01
John Saunders
two Two weeks.
00:26:07
johngrimsmo
Cause I'm just, um I'm sick of this.
00:26:09
John Saunders
Can you ship it to, I mean, I don't mean to volunteer. or happy to volunteer, but can you ship it legitimately and correctly to a place like us without, without to be blunt or be rude, not to put a bunch of paperwork on me though, where then I can hold it and then I can just ground ship it to you for cheap when you're ready.
00:26:17
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:26:21
johngrimsmo
Yeah. yeah
00:26:24
johngrimsmo
Yeah. It still has to clear customs um regardless.
00:26:27
John Saunders
Right, right.
00:26:29
johngrimsmo
So my current plan is, say, I have the one month cutoff. I have a customs broker in place and I hand them the manifest at the one month mark.
00:26:35
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:26:38
johngrimsmo
And I say, yeah, this will take a couple days to process. And then once they clear me, I want to drive it to the border maybe two weeks early and then get across the border and park it somewhere at a friend's house, at your house, at the lock box, don't know, something at a bank.
00:26:47
John Saunders
Yeah, sure. Yeah. Easy. Yeah.
00:26:51
johngrimsmo
don't care. Um, so that they're hopefully in Buffalo, close to Buffalo. So when we fly through, drive through the border, pick up our stuff, we fly with it. We're good to go.
00:27:01
John Saunders
Yeah, easy.
00:27:02
johngrimsmo
Um, and I'd rather do that with like weeks to spare so that there's no more stress because I don't think we've had all of our product at a show for the past, like five shows.
00:27:02
John Saunders
That makes sense.
00:27:08
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:27:13
johngrimsmo
Um,
00:27:14
John Saunders
Right. And this doesn't help you right now, but um these shenanigans that are going on in the U.S., Canada, Trump, political environment, blah, blah.
00:27:22
johngrimsmo
Yeah, yeah's it's slowing everything down too.
00:27:25
John Saunders
It is. And I think think we mentioned this last week, but we've actually had a couple of fixture plate orders to Canada that have been um unusually delayed. And our our FedEx rep said, and this is just hearsay, that um and but really hearsay, so please don't accuse me of of actually claiming this is true.
00:27:44
John Saunders
But apparently Canada is, or allegedly Canada customs are slowing down shipments from the US as retribution for everything the current administration has been doing.
00:27:52
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:27:54
John Saunders
And frankly, That passes muster. ah
00:27:58
johngrimsmo
Yep.
00:27:59
John Saunders
It's certainly a drag on trade for innocent bystanders of companies that are just trying to like apply our trades and sell our goods. Like it's not fair, but it's also, I think there's an aspect of this where we can't be naive to what's going on and it's on it's on us to figure out how to make stuff work.
00:28:06
johngrimsmo
yep Totally.
00:28:15
johngrimsmo
Exactly. And I... In retrospect, overall, I left it all to the last minute. And next year, I won't allow myself to do that, you know?
00:28:25
John Saunders
Yeah, which I mean, you, like, I'm still struggling because it's like the whole border thing. They always emphasize the $10,000 cash thing. And it's like, wait a minute here. Like, again, what's up with $2,500? don't know. Yeah. sorry.
00:28:37
johngrimsmo
Yeah, it's a commercial merchandise thing. and
00:28:40
John Saunders
yeah
00:28:40
johngrimsmo
and And even if you're doing any other shipment, any other driving across trucking company, whatever, over $2,500, you need a different set of paperwork.
00:28:41
John Saunders
so
00:28:50
johngrimsmo
And that's kind of a limit. You need an ITN number, International Transit number, something like that to to import those goods officially. That's what a customs broker helps you do. You can self-file, but it's a big, long process to do that.
00:29:03
johngrimsmo
um So that's part of the reason for that $2,500.
00:29:07
johngrimsmo
But anyway, so I was thinking exactly what we talked about last week when you were like, how's the current? And i was like, what? um um I'm almost like over it now.
00:29:14
John Saunders
ah Okay.
00:29:16
johngrimsmo
You know, I've told enough of the story to enough people and I'm like, I'm home. I'm relaxed. um Kids are good. Everything's good. And I'm like, I'm not going to let that happen again, but I'm kind of over it now. You know, it's like, move on. What's next?
00:29:21
John Saunders
Yeah, i'm sorry.
00:29:29
John Saunders
yeah i I give you a lot of credit. and i think I think we've been overt about trying to clarify that on this conversation between the two of us and the fact that it's a podcast is like very much um highlighting and and talking about the business the the mental health and the and the that side of running a business. You're very good at Moving on, I commend you.
00:29:49
johngrimsmo
Thank you.
00:29:49
John Saunders
Like you rarely do I see you actually, which, but it it it's a compliment, except there's an aspect of it that worries me because then it's like, I don't, I know you almost well enough to read you when i'm like, no, something's really wrong here.
00:30:00
John Saunders
Like, because we all are like, stuff happens.
00:30:01
johngrimsmo
yeah. yeah
00:30:05
John Saunders
But it's ultimately like, you to your point, there's nothing you can do about it. There's nothing you can do about it when you're sitting at the convention at Blade Show. i think it's freaking awesome that that meme went around that's like, most people would have left candy and and pencils and and pieced out. And you guys were like, we are here to have a good time. Let's go.
00:30:22
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:30:22
johngrimsmo
I'm glad you saw that. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. When you're there and people are making memes about your situation in a very positive light, like that was, that was touching.
00:30:31
John Saunders
Yeah. Yeah. But also part of me, and this is like the more whatever analytical part of me, part of me is like, you could be sitting on some fat cash right now that you don't have.
00:30:40
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:30:40
John Saunders
And that stinks.
00:30:40
johngrimsmo
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's probably the first, this is our 10th blade show and it's definitely the first one we lost money on.
00:30:47
John Saunders
Yeah. Right.
00:30:47
johngrimsmo
you know, like it's not cheap to go. It's probably 10 grand in total expenses like to go, but we made almost zero.
00:30:50
John Saunders
Yeah. Right.
00:30:53
johngrimsmo
We we took a couple of orders and took some cash. And then i started feeling bad about taking cash because I'm like, we're not going to get this stuff.
00:30:56
John Saunders
Okay.
00:30:59
johngrimsmo
So like, we'll just, we'll take your name and number and we'll deal with it next week. and um
00:31:04
John Saunders
so Sounds like these are all about to be like a limited edition. but The blade show knives.
00:31:08
johngrimsmo
Exactly. Right. So ah yeah. Anyway, I've, I've,
00:31:12
John Saunders
Just engrave the state of Kentucky on the side of each one with a big X through it
00:31:17
johngrimsmo
that is hilarious i like that and there's there's something to that like people love a story they love to connect i saw that at the show all the time you know there's like the one knife that has the story behind it and it's like really cool um but we had we had dealers come by and let us borrow knives from them and put on our table because they had older norsemen they like three years old
00:31:23
John Saunders
yeah No, for sure.
00:31:31
John Saunders
Yeah. The...
00:31:39
John Saunders
Oh, wow.
00:31:42
John Saunders
Oh, that's cool.
00:31:43
johngrimsmo
And they're like, yeah, we have them at our table and we're not getting a lot of traffic. You're getting a lot of traffic. Do you want these back? And i was like, that would be amazing because now I have something to show people because so many people They're like, oh, I've never had a Norseman.
00:31:52
John Saunders
Sure.
00:31:54
johngrimsmo
and I've never held one before. And always love putting a saga in people's face and getting them to figure out the mechanism and stomping them, especially kids walking around and like, hey, do you like puzzles?
00:32:00
John Saunders
Right.
00:32:06
johngrimsmo
Check this out. um So much fun. So it was it it was great except for when it wasn't.
00:32:13
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:32:14
johngrimsmo
And I'm i'm glad it all worked out. We had an awesome team. We put our heads together. You know, Angelo said in the airport on the first day, he's like, well, adapt, innovate and overcome. That's what doing right now.
00:32:26
johngrimsmo
And was like, that makes me feel better to have you say that.
00:32:29
John Saunders
yeah
00:32:30
johngrimsmo
um And we did.
00:32:33
John Saunders
part of me that very much still wants to root for the, uh, creative solution to have avoiding this in the future through means of that may not be sustainable or legal, but basically, you know what i mean?
00:32:45
johngrimsmo
Yeah, right.
00:32:46
John Saunders
Like I only because it's just so wrong to not be able to to do this. Even when you, uh, sorry, just gets me going.
00:32:54
johngrimsmo
Totally.
00:32:54
John Saunders
Yep.
00:32:55
johngrimsmo
At the end of the day, it's a timing issue. And i i crammed it all to the last minute.
00:32:57
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:32:59
johngrimsmo
I put my Hail Mary on me flying with this product. And then I have to scramble real fast after that.
00:33:04
John Saunders
Sure, sure, sure.
00:33:05
johngrimsmo
and And I never did call the Toronto Airport Customs to be like, can I do this? Because I'm going to do this. And I considered it. But I never never did.
00:33:12
John Saunders
Hmm.
00:33:14
johngrimsmo
You know, so.
00:33:15
John Saunders
Yeah, right.
00:33:18
johngrimsmo
So, and then I also put way too much on my plate for this a thing. Booking the hotel, booking the flights, doing all the custom.
00:33:25
John Saunders
oh yeah, yeah.
00:33:25
johngrimsmo
Like, it was all on my plate, and I i shouldn't have. I should have distributed that to the team.
00:33:28
John Saunders
Right.
00:33:30
johngrimsmo
so
00:33:31
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:33:33
johngrimsmo
Because I picked crack houses for hotels.
00:33:35
John Saunders
Oh, well, I mean, i don't want like crap on Atlanta too much, but they that's it's ah that's a town that has some really nice places and yeah.
00:33:40
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:33:42
johngrimsmo
Exactly. Yeah.
00:33:44
John Saunders
Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:45
johngrimsmo
So, anyway, your turn. How are you?
00:33:48
John Saunders
ah Good. Yeah. um i My low of the week was little good Friday morning, Monday morning, Monday morning. um The Tuesday morning, Monday morning, Friday morning.
00:34:00
John Saunders
doesn't matter. video we The horizontal quote unquote crashed. um um We still don't know to this day what happened. The horizontal has the lazy Susan that rotates the tombstone from the active one to the load station one.
00:34:13
johngrimsmo
kind
00:34:14
John Saunders
And when I now know this mechanism much better because I took part of it apart, but um it has a, some mechanism lifts the whole thing up, which, you know, the tombstone in the base is probably 2000 pounds.
00:34:27
John Saunders
So it's not light.
00:34:28
johngrimsmo
That's a lot, yeah.
00:34:29
John Saunders
um And then it when it does so, there's a sheet metal at the top, which is on a kind of like a piano hinge that allows it to flex up as that, um as that whole table is lifted up, but then also fall back down to keep chips and coolant from splashing out onto the loader load station side.
00:34:47
johngrimsmo
Okay.
00:34:48
John Saunders
um That appears to somehow have caught. And when it rotated the lazy Susan, it bent a piece of sheet metal, you know the size of a person's torso, like the half of the half of the lazy Susan, it bent it like eight inches.
00:35:03
John Saunders
um And i don't even remember what the alarm was on the machine. So it wasn't a crash from a like CNC kinematic crash. um But um we kind of looked at Actually, it was really frustrating because i was a baby I was able to bend it back about to about within an inch or two.
00:35:20
John Saunders
But you know sheet metal, you really have to overbend so i was like, look, just call.
00:35:22
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:35:24
John Saunders
It is what it is. You're going to take this off. um And so, you know, it was a bunch of screws and some some other cover plates, but got it off, got it bent back, got it back in.
00:35:31
johngrimsmo
Mm-hmm.
00:35:32
John Saunders
And the whole job from me walking into the shop to the machine back to running was about three, little under four hours. um The sort of interesting takeaway learning point was this happened as soon as ah the machine started running again after the I had done kind of an unusual amount of cleaning.
00:35:53
John Saunders
So the person that normally runs that machine was off for vacation most of the week. So that gave me some time to do some um setting up some new fixtures, working on some probing and fixture stuff on that machine. And then um just but stuff like that. And then the last day i was like, okay, I'm already a mess because I've been doing the coolant work. So I'm going to go in and really hose this thing out.
00:36:15
John Saunders
All these nooks and crannies that, um coolant deemulsifies or chips build up and um really got in there and hosed out, found some areas where chips had probably built up about a half an inch or an inch, the very top of the enclosure.
00:36:25
johngrimsmo
Weird.
00:36:28
John Saunders
I have to think that the cleaning I did is what caused that quote unquote sheet metal crash.
00:36:34
johngrimsmo
weird
00:36:34
John Saunders
um And i it's ironic because I've always had this sort of belief that I've tried to talk about here at the shop of like, there's reasons to clean stuff up for sure. I like having a clean shop, you should clean the machines, but also you don't want to take a machine and start like alcohol wiping down every surface.
00:36:51
John Saunders
youll you You will break a plastic cable or you will tear something out or you will clean it to the detriment of the operation the machine.
00:36:57
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:36:58
John Saunders
Like let them be.
00:37:01
John Saunders
ah you can clean You can clean to where it causes more problems than it's good. I obviously didn't think I did that here. And maybe I didn't, but too much of a coincidence to not to think that. um So no big deal. That was a low point. um the The other thing I wanted to mention was...
00:37:01
johngrimsmo
Hmm.
00:37:22
John Saunders
Oh, I got to give a shout out. A bunch of people responded on on steel nuts or steel inserts for aluminum fixtures and what they do.
00:37:30
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:37:33
John Saunders
Shout out to Mr. Renzetti. He had some great suggestions. I will... I'll figure out what learned here and create some, maybe a YouTube video versus Instagram.
00:37:41
johngrimsmo
yeah
00:37:43
John Saunders
um Robin's suggestions were great. They were McMaster cars components. um They would be easier to install, but I don't know. not saying they don't. I just don't know if they'll last as long as a helicoil and they were actually more expensive. So it kind of didn't check the box I'm hoping for.
00:38:01
John Saunders
um And then a number of people suggested, think I may have said it, but they reinforced, traditional just off-the-shelf hex nuts, which are, you know, usually they're five to ten dollars for a hundred pack from McMaster.
00:38:14
John Saunders
They're quite strong.
00:38:14
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:38:15
John Saunders
But the best solution I saw on this from an implementation standpoint was from Deegan Manufacturing. So I'll hold this up to the phone. So you can see um right there, John, is the thread.
00:38:26
John Saunders
And then there's the nut.
00:38:26
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:38:27
John Saunders
The nut is this is a section view. So you can see the nut right here. For the folks that are just listening, again, you just machine out of pocket for the nut.
00:38:37
John Saunders
You can do Mickey Mouse ears. I would do those little differently, but regardless, you could do dog bone ears, Mickey Mouse ears.
00:38:40
johngrimsmo
Oh.
00:38:42
John Saunders
Now your nut fits on the underside of your fixture, um period. But he likes to have the nut have some... radial and axial float to it. And so what he does is to the right side or left side of that nut, call it quarter inch, he taps a hole for let's say a 1024 flathead cap screw that would have an 82 or 90 degree angle.
00:39:06
John Saunders
and then i then properly counterbores it so that that flathead cap screw can be screwed in and tightened. And when it's tightened, it does not touch the nut. It is just acting as a stopper that keeps that nut captive, but allows it to again, float in the hole.
00:39:21
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:39:21
johngrimsmo
Okay, that makes sense.
00:39:22
johngrimsmo
But keeps it from falling out. So like, I think we talked about last week, peening the top surface, you know, hammering and things, but this is totally removable and totally, yeah kind of like the float idea too, because sometimes, you know, it's not concentric and you go to, you know, put your screw through it and that nut on the bottom is off center.
00:39:27
John Saunders
yeah
00:39:40
johngrimsmo
And if it can float, it can it can do what it needs to do.
00:39:43
John Saunders
Yeah. um So I've not done that yet, but I liked i liked that idea.
00:39:48
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:39:48
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:39:50
johngrimsmo
Cool.
00:39:52
John Saunders
The other thing to mention that is on topic with Mr. Renzetti is he he offered in his normal and kind and humble manner to say, if you don't have a paraphrasing, if you don't find a real metrology guru to come on, he would be happy to be our guest.
00:40:11
John Saunders
So maybe you and i can talk offline about finding a date this summer and we could do a three-way with Robin on the podcast and come up with some questions for him.
00:40:18
johngrimsmo
Yeah, i I would need some some prep time to come up with some good questions there.
00:40:21
John Saunders
Sure. Right, that's kind of what thought.
00:40:26
johngrimsmo
Cool.
00:40:28
John Saunders
Um, otherwise, um, I'm doing a guest episode on Dylan's podcast with intolerance. I'm recording it tomorrow.
00:40:35
johngrimsmo
Nice.
00:40:36
John Saunders
I don't know when they'll air, but, um, I'm excited to, to be on that podcast. Um, and appreciate him inviting us.
00:40:44
johngrimsmo
Yeah.
00:40:45
John Saunders
Um, and yeah, business as usual, I guess.
00:40:49
johngrimsmo
Excellent. That's good hear.
00:40:55
johngrimsmo
Yeah, I'm just getting back into the shop and just telling everybody the stories and getting my head around what's going on here. The guys are guys are working, getting machines running, and Yeah, we're like we're in field production, which is great.
00:41:07
johngrimsmo
um Still fine-tuning the one thing I talked last week about button material, like 465 Custom.
00:41:12
John Saunders
Yes.
00:41:13
johngrimsmo
i still waiting for that to arrive, but it should be here within a week or so, I'd say.
00:41:14
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:41:18
johngrimsmo
um so I'm super looking forward to that arriving and us making test parts. And like super easy heat treat, some variation in in final hardness, depending on how we do it, and cryo and all that stuff.
00:41:25
John Saunders
Mm-hmm.
00:41:29
johngrimsmo
So I'm looking forward to that. um Because I'm still not... 100% happy. Like we've made, i think 160 fails so far.
00:41:37
John Saunders
Oh, wow.
00:41:38
johngrimsmo
Yeah, and it's great.
00:41:38
John Saunders
Good for you.
00:41:40
johngrimsmo
um And they're they're good. But some of them need some massaging. And I send it back and be like, that's too stiff, or it's too soft, or it's too weird or something like that. And we're fine tuning that final, you know, range of like, oh, yeah, oh oh, yeah, they just they just go together.
00:41:48
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:41:55
johngrimsmo
And they all feel the same. And they all feel good. And we'll get there. We're super close.
00:41:59
John Saunders
yeah Good. That's awesome. Um, that's what I forgot to mention. We had, uh, two principles. One's the CEO founder. The other is a technical director, I believe, of, for module works here.
00:42:08
johngrimsmo
I
00:42:11
John Saunders
Um,
00:42:12
johngrimsmo
saw some your posts throughout the weekend, yeah.
00:42:14
John Saunders
Yeah, so that was awesome. um It was, there was maybe a smidge of, i don't say anxiety, but like I wanted to, obviously, you want to be a good host. And so I wasn't, it was sort of unclear what exactly they wanted.
00:42:22
johngrimsmo
Mm-hmm.
00:42:26
John Saunders
um And we had a great time. they What they wanted to do, they wanted to film with me and then with Grant talking about Heroes of Manufacturing, really putting emphasis on CAM programmers and the role they play in industry, which I mean, you know, be still my heart like your love that idea of putting some attention around CAM programmers.
00:42:43
johngrimsmo
No
00:42:44
John Saunders
And then they the toolpath guys were out because ModuleWorks is investing in toolpath. So that was obviously relevant. And then they I did a quick video with uh yavu says his name sort of being like explain module works to us but like many of the great steven shell or uh high access toolpaths not steven shell actually many of the great high access toolpaths their module works like fusion just in other companies mastercam siemens nx etc etc just license them and put them in so these guys are the brain trust that runs a lot of modern cam and what's really cool i think the video should almost certainly be already out by the time this podcast airs but
00:43:10
johngrimsmo
way
00:43:16
johngrimsmo
That's wild.
00:43:22
John Saunders
It's probably my favorite little individual nugget takeaway um was Yavuz. I mean, sitting here expecting us to just talk about machining and subtractive manufacturing. And we're talking about that. We're talking about 5-axis toolpaths. And then all of a sudden, he just starts talking about 3D printing.
00:43:39
John Saunders
Like, without the same paragraph, same sentence. i'm like, wait minute. Did he just say what I think he said? And he was explaining how... in five axis tool paths, you and i don't necessarily care about the evenness of line distributions, line, is it waterline heights, point distribution?
00:43:58
John Saunders
We care, but like if our machine takes a little bit less or a little bit more cutting load or air cuts a little bit, it doesn't really matter on the current, et cetera.
00:44:08
johngrimsmo
Okay.
00:44:10
John Saunders
They are taking off the shelf, cheap FDM printers, which already have three point beds where you can adjust the bed to establish a plane for leveling.
00:44:22
John Saunders
They're taking that bed, let's call it one or two degrees and making it 30 degrees. And they're using their five axis tool pass. They're five axis printing complex shapes on f cheap FDM printers with zero supports.
00:44:39
John Saunders
because when you need to do your angled part, or your overhang, they just tip the printer bed. And there's video of this in the video we released. So shameless plug, go watch our video.
00:44:47
johngrimsmo
Okay.
00:44:49
John Saunders
And it's nuts. And what I love about it is it's like, he's not talking about putting this on 20K stratasys. He's talking about doing it on machines like a bamboo. mean, I think there was a bamboo firmware thing they've got to deal with.
00:44:59
John Saunders
Like this is for the $1,000 type printer.
00:45:00
johngrimsmo
No
00:45:02
John Saunders
And it's, John, you see this and the light bulbs go off. You're like, oh,
00:45:05
johngrimsmo
way. I can't wait to see that. Okay, so this is going on your channel.
00:45:08
John Saunders
Yeah, NYCCNC, it's already up by the time this airs.
00:45:09
johngrimsmo
yeah Beautiful.
00:45:10
John Saunders
It's seven minute video talking about the others.
00:45:12
johngrimsmo
I can't wait.
00:45:14
John Saunders
So it was really fun. And then we kind of worked all day Saturday and then we went down to the farm, went for a hike, got some pizza, got
00:45:21
johngrimsmo
With your boots.
00:45:22
John Saunders
Yeah, and the whole family was over there, there and the dog brought the dog.
00:45:23
johngrimsmo
the The team, yeah. ah That's amazing.
00:45:26
John Saunders
And then um i wasn't sure about shooting, and then some people were brought up and like, let's let's shoot. So we brought out ah suppressed AR-15, suppressed AR-10, set up a strike mark target like 150 yards, and the guys did great.
00:45:36
johngrimsmo
Yes. Yes.
00:45:40
John Saunders
Yavuz had never shot a firearm. He hit it hit the strike mark on his first shot, which is phenomenal.
00:45:42
johngrimsmo
yeah
00:45:46
John Saunders
And then busted out some Tannerite, which is amazing. Like, I mean, it's not explosive. Like it won't, you know, whatever, but it's also like pretty crazy that it's legal because it's like Tannerite makes a pretty good noise.
00:45:58
johngrimsmo
yeah
00:45:58
John Saunders
um And so ah he hit the Tannerite on the first shot. I believe Dave did as well. And so they were just, it was awesome. Super fun.
00:46:07
johngrimsmo
Oh, that's awesome. I mean, those are experiences of a lifetime for them, like to come visit. And it's it's, you know, the work is one thing, but the, you know, the socializing and the extra little things, you know how to show show people around.
00:46:15
John Saunders
Right. Right.
00:46:19
John Saunders
Yeah. Yeah. We were joking about, you know, it's like, uh, mixing the Tanner and I'm like, if they, if you could, when you go to the airport tomorrow, maybe try not, not have them swab your hands.
00:46:29
johngrimsmo
Exactly. Yeah, like we went shooting and then immediately went to the airport and i'm like, oh, are they going swab our hands? like I mean, whatever, it we're allowed to, but it's funny.
00:46:38
John Saunders
Yeah.
00:46:39
johngrimsmo
But they did they did swab ah the battery packs.
00:46:39
John Saunders
Yeah. so
00:46:41
johngrimsmo
Like I had all the battery, the GoPro batteries and everything in my backpack. They swapped every single one.
00:46:46
John Saunders
That's funny.
00:46:47
johngrimsmo
Weirdly enough, but.
00:46:49
John Saunders
Good. Awesome. We're off next week, so I'll see you in two weeks.
00:46:52
johngrimsmo
Yep. Two weeks, man.
00:46:54
John Saunders
Sounds good.
00:46:55
johngrimsmo
I did.
00:46:56
John Saunders
ah Take care.
00:46:57
johngrimsmo
Later. Bye.